PIONEERS in the South East forestry industry, the McDonnell family’s timber business has reached another milestone, celebrating 75 years of history on Friday.
N.F. McDonnell & Sons welcomed dozens of family, friends, employees and stakeholders to their mill to reflect on 75 successful years.
As a third generation family member of the business and director, Ian McDonnell said the success was a reflection of the determination of his family.
“Family businesses are the backbones of communities and we are lucky through generations to have that passion to keep ours going,” Ian said.
“My grandfather started this after seeing an opportunity following fires in 1943 and now my son is involved, who is a fourth generation.”
Overseeing the timber mill, which has over 100 employees, Ian said his job was a stark contrast to where his grandfather started.
“When they arrived they lived in tents in the bush and where they worked was where they slept,” he said.
“The productivity and opportunities we have today are amazing – it’s gone from cutting trees down by hand to harvesters, so the volume of trees we cut down now were probably months worth,” he said.
Now 75 years on, he wished his grandfather could be here today to see how the business has flourished.
“It was humble beginnings when he first started, but when you are in business and you believe in yourself, the opportunities come from there.”
“It is amazing to watch our staff learn, mature and really take the opportunities and achieve things.
“When you run a business like this you cannot do it on your own, it takes a great team and we have got marvellous people working for our business.”
While Friday was a chance to reflect on the success of the business, it was also a changing of the guard, with Ian stepping down from the top role.
As he enters into his retirement years, Ian announced general manager Craig Nisbett would take over as chief executive officer.
“I’m going to step back from the day to day operations of the business and I’m quite excited Craig has agreed to take over,” he said.
“The family generations of the business will continue too with my son still here and he shares the passion that I do, which is great.”
Taking over the role, Mr Nisbett said he was proud to have the faith instilled in him to build on the great work that has been done over 75 years.
“It is big shoes to fill, he is an industry icon, but I am proud to take that on and understand it is a big responsibility,” Mr Nisbett said.
“I have been with the company for 10 years and I have seen a lot of the growth over that time and it is a great time to be involved with the company.”
He believed there were a number of opportunities within the industry to grow further over the next 10 years.
“It is still a strong industry, I think wood products from time to time have had a bad wrap,” he said.
“But we have a sustainable product here, it is carbon neutral, so when you’re looking for a product for the future, we should be growing more trees here in the Green Triangle.”
Overall, Mr Nisbett is excited to lead an extremely motivated team.
“To have the baton passed on is a huge compliment and it is a great team to be a part of,” he said.
“We have a great culture here, we get the job done and it’s great that everyone enjoys the success.”
